44 High-School Robotics Teams Participated, Two Are Eligible to
Attend the VEX Robotics World Championship April 18 – 21 in Anaheim, CA

CHANDLER, Ariz. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — April 10, 2012 —
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:
MCHP), a leading provider of
microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, today announced the
results of the 2012
Fountain
Hills and
Southern
Arizona
VEX®
Robotics Competitions. Sahaurita/Walden Grove and Fountain Hills High
School VEX robotics teams won the prestigious VEX Excellence
Award
for the Fountain Hills and Southern Arizona VEX competitions,
respectively. This award is given to the team that the judges feel did
best, overall, in the competition. By winning the award, the Fountain
Hills High and Sahaurita/Walden Grove High School VEX teams qualified to
compete in the 2012
VEX
Robotics World Championshipon April 18 – 21 in Anaheim,
CA. The VEX Robotics Competition is now the largest middle school and
high school robotics competition program in the world, now with almost
5,000 teams worldwide, in 23 different countries. The Fountain Hills and
Sahaurita/Walden Grove high-school teams will be joining almost 600
other top teams from those countries in Anaheim to see who the 2012 VEX
Robotics World Champions will be.

“Microchip is proud to sponsor VEX Robotics, a Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math (STEM) program,” said Steve Sanghi, president and
CEO of Microchip. “VEX Robotics provides students from middle-school to
college an opportunity that not only increases their abilities in
technical areas, such as programming and engineering, but also in
real-life workforce skills such as working on a team, problem solving,
and project management. The VEX platform also offers curriculum that
enables students to use engineering skills in the classroom.”

Microchip Technology is the Official Sponsor of the Fountain Hills and
Southern Arizona VEX Robotics Competitions. Microchip’s
PIC18F8520
8-bit microcontroller is featured in VEX’s autonomous and
dual-control starter bundles, while Microchip’s C Compiler is offered as
a programming option. Microchip’s sponsorship of VEX in Arizona will
increase the number of tournaments held in 2013 from two to four events.
Sites are being finalized and will be announced in the coming months.
Grant money will be available to start rookie VEX teams in Arizona, with
a goal of creating 24 new VEX teams for the 2013 competitions. For more
information or to get involved, contact Carol Popovich at
Email Contact
or (480) 792-7938.

About VEX® Robotics

The VEX® Robotics Design System offers students an exciting
platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities,
spanning Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). These are
just a few of the many fields students can explore by creating with VEX
Robotics technology. Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX
Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving
among groups. It also allows educators to easily customize projects to
meet the level of students’ abilities. The affordable VEX platform is
expanding rapidly, and is now found in middle schools, high schools and
university labs around the globe. Robotics hobbyists also appreciate the
advanced capabilities of the VEX System. For more information, visit
http://www.microchip.com/get/X5E8.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:
MCHP) is a leading provider of
microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, providing low-risk
product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market
for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered
in Chandler, Ariz., Microchip offers outstanding technical support along
with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the
Microchip
Web site (
http://www.microchip.com/get/QREB).

Note:The Microchip name and logo are registered trademarks of
Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A., and other countries.
All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their
respective companies.